Wanderlust | Things To Do in Malta

Hands in the air if you’re spending this hideous January weather curled up in your PJs frantically trawling holiday sites for sunny adventures? Yeah, me too.

In a bid to try and narrow down the million and five places I think I want to go, I’ll be doing some ‘wanderlust’ posts in 2017, which involve me doing lots of delving for internet information (that Uni module on research skills was TOTALLY useful) and relaying all the things that make me say OMG GOTTA DO THAT to you guys. Cool?

First up? Malta.

With flights from London starting at just £60 (via AirMalta), it’s a pretty affordable destination. It’s just offbeat enough to avoid the Ibiza and Magaluf style party crowds (as much as I love cheap cocktails…), but still lively enough to keep my interest. As well as some much-needed beach lazing R&R, I’m fast building a list of other things I’d check out on the visit I’m planning in my little head right now…

Valetta’s architecture

After looking at lots of snaps of Malta’s capital city, it looks like exactly the kind of place I love exploring. Pretty little streets, eye-catching doorways and balconies as far as the eye can see? Yes please. Oh, and the Valetta Sins in the City walking tour sounds fascinating. I’m all about those naughty, naughty Knights.

St. John’s Co-Cathedral

Built for the Knights of St John in the 1570s, it’s considered to be one of the best cathedrals in the world, as well as one of the finest examples of Baroque architecture in Europe. The interior is amazingly ornate, with carved stone walls and intricate paintings everywhere you look.

Ħaġar Qim

Ancient temples! Really ancient temples, in fact, as Malta’s are some of the oldest religious sites on earth (thanks Wikipedia). The Ħaġar Qim complex is particularly well-preserved, and it looks like a pretty awesome history lesson. There’s an interactive visitor centre, so you can learn something at the same time as wandering round and getting spooked by the altars and being amazed at the architecture skills of the ancient people who built it all.

Popeye Village

Spinach at the ready – this is the place where the actual 1980s Popeye movie was filmed! As well as being able to explore the Popeye film set and check out props and costume exhibits from the movie, there’s plenty of entertainment on offer too, including puppet shows and good ol’ song’n’dance routines. Definitely not something I’d have even realised was there if it wasn’t for those awesome research skills, see.

Blue Grotto

Perched on Malta’s south coast, this lil’ cluster of rocky sea caverns is basically a dream view. And if you visit in the morning, the sunlight combined with the cave locations results in some incredible blue hues thanks to the colours of the underwater flora, combined with deeper, darker shades. Totally worth getting up for. You can hop on board a boat to get a close up view of the caves, which I’d totally do, as well as standing on the coast to admire them from a height.

Scuba Diving

Okay, I’ve never actually been scuba diving. But I think Malta would be a pretty damn fabulous place to start. Beautiful clear waters give opportunities to see a whole host of marine life – and also, excitingly, SHIPWRECKS. I’ve been reading up on diving in Malta (blog research mode: ACTIVATED) and discovered there are loads of them hidden underneath the waters. I find the idea of swimming around one absolutely fascinating, and it’s definitely a big-time ‘bucket list’ activity that I’d love to do.

Spinola Bay

Spinola Bay is…you guessed it, a bay (yeah I know, surprise!) in the St Julian area. Filled with Maltese fishing boats, I could totally picture myself taking a stroll along the promenade as the sun goes down. Probably with a well-priced cocktail in hand, because as we established above, I like those. There are also plenty of nearby restaurants that I could stuff my face with local delights in – I’m liking the look of 1927 and Zeri’s in particular.